Rick Howard spent the last five years working as the iDefense Intelligence director and is now the general manager of the business. Prior to joining iDefense, Rick led the intelligence-gathering activities at Counterpane Internet Security and ran Counterpane's global network of Security Operations Centers.

He served in the US Army for 23 years in various command and staff positions involving information technology and computer security and spent the last 2 years of his career as the US Army's Computer Emergency Response Team Chief (ACERT). He coordinated network defense, network intelligence and network attack operations for the Army's global network and retired as a lieutenant colonel in 2004.

Rick holds a Master of Computer Science degree from the Naval Postgraduate School and an engineering degree from the US Military Academy. He also taught computer science at the Academy from 1990 to 1995 . He has published many academic papers on technology and security and has contributed as an executive editor to two books that Verisign iDefense personnel have written: "Cyber Fraud: Tactics, Techniques and Procedures" and "Cyber Security Essentials." Twitter: @raceBannon99